LOCUST GROVE, Ark. — After a long, hot summer day at Batesville Motor Speedway that saw the temperature rise to 100 degrees and still sit in the high 80s well into the evening, Jonathan Davenport understandably needed an extra minute to gather himself in victory lane after winning Saturday’s 33rd annual Nutrien Ag Solutions Topless 100.

“That’s about all I had right there, man,” Davenport said. “I was sweating bullets and everything else there at the end.”

The 41-year-old superstar from Blairsville, Ga., took a stressful path to his second career triumph in the crown jewel event, benefitting from a dose of good fortune to ascend to the lead and then surviving a flurry of mid-race caution flags and a late threat from Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., to secure the $50,000 winner’s prize.

Leading the race’s final 63 laps after inheriting the top spot with race-long pacesetter Brandon Sheppard’s blown right-rear tire, Davenport beat Madden to the finish line by 0.989 of a second for a satisfying victory in front of his Double L Motorsports team owners.

“It’s so great to win this race for Lance and Darla Landers here in their hometown,” said Davenport, whose Longhorn Chassis equipment is prepared at the Landers’s shop in Batesville, Ark., mere miles from the 3/8-mile oval. “It’s really special.”

In a race in which Davenport and Madden were two of just seven starters to go the distance without pitting for a tire change, Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, finished third after rallying from a flat right-rear tire on lap 40. Eighth-starter Dan Ebert of Lake Shore, Minn., conserved his tires to record a career-best Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series finish of fourth after not cracking the top five until lap 97 and New Berlin, Ill.’s Sheppard came back to place fifth after leading the race’s first 37 laps off the pole until his Rocket1 entry was forced to the rear by an exploded right-rear tire.

Davenport was his usual steady, calculating self as he started from the outside pole and never ran below second place. He assumed command on the lap-37 restart following Sheppard’s trouble and found a way to keep his tires under him and his rivals behind him for the remainder of the race.

The most nerve-racking moments for Davenport came late in the 37-lap stretch of uninterrupted action that closed the century grind. He had to deal with slower cars as Madden, who shot past Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., for second on the lap-63 restart, stalked him in his Kale Green-owned Longhorn Chassis.

“I just tried not to get complacent behind those lapped cars,” said Davenport, who tallied his seventh full-field win of 2025 and the 83rd of his career on the Lucas Oil Series. “I started to … it started getting a little dirty around the top, and I’m like, ‘Well, I just need to keep slowing down here and keep moving to the bottom.’ But I kept trying to catch my left-rear in that brown strip, and I’m sure from up there it looks like it’d be all kinds of grip, but it was just so slimy that I would actually get looser when I would do that.

“So I finally just said, ‘I got to do something. Either me or Madden’s gonna step out here and try this outside.’ There was a lot of grip out there if you could hit it just right and straight. (Madden) went with a little bit harder tire on the left-front, which I know that probably don’t sound like much, but I think that would have helped me, you know, run the top a little bit better … I could only do it for a few laps and like (the tire) would get hot and it would start pushing more and more.”

Madden drew closest to Davenport on lap 95 when he pulled nearly even with the leader off the inside of turn four, but Davenport proceeded to make a critical move in lapped traffic, putting a slower car between himself and Madden that helped carry him to the finish.

“The 14 (Haiden Coan) wasn't that bad because he was kind of running his line there, and like I said, that’s when I stepped to the outside and found a little bit of grip out there with just some momentum,” Davenport said. “And what really kind of messed me up is when I caught the 28 (Carson Brown), and him in the 19 (Joseph Joiner) got to racing and he switched lanes and actually pulled away from me.

“So it kind of dirtied the air up even more when those two was running side-by-side, so I had to slide the 19 down here and try to stop and not go all the way across the racetrack. If Madden was close enough behind me, he could have stuck the bottom and rolled by me right there, so there was a whole lot going on in my mind right there, but yeah, I was kind of wanting to creep back down to that bottom because I seen the 28 take back off and kind of leave me there, but I was so good around the top there, that's how I ran them down.

“Thanks for Madden running me clean there,” he added. “I’m sure he could have throwed a couple of sliders there and really made it dicey, he could have messed up my rhythm there.”

Davenport feared he might develop a flat tire as well after watching so many other competitors struck down by the misfortune. All seven caution flags that flew between laps 37-63 were caused by drivers slowing with tire woes.

Sheppard’s lap-37 demise was especially notable to Davenport, who knew the Rocket Chassis house car driver would have been tough to deal with.

“Man, I hate that for Sheppard,” Davenport said. “He had a really good car. He kind of got out front there and I was just kind of pacing with him, trying to save my tires, because I figured there’d be a lot of people that would have to pit for tires just for overheating them or cutting them. This place is known for rocks when you get up there running a cushion like that, so I was trying to run it when I needed to, and then save my tires when I didn’t have to.”

Davenport’s victory came in his 13th career Topless 100 feature start. His first triumph didn’t come until 2022, but he’s been a perennial contender in the event, especially in the 2020s as he’s registered two wins and three runner-up finishes over the last five years.

“This Topless is the one that evaded me for a really long time,” Davenport said. “I run second here (two) years in a after we won, so we’ve had a really good package here, just things didn't fall our way, and finally they did tonight. We had a little luck last night (in winning a $5,000 semifeature), and we had some more tonight, so hell, we might keep us this green (colored wrap he debuted at Batesville) a little longer.”

Madden, 50, couldn’t find the right opportunity to make a big run at Davenport down the stretch.

“We tried to save our stuff as long as we could and make a charge at him there,” said Madden, the 2019 Topless 100 winner. “I think we started about 20 to go there and started picking up the pace a little bit, and we were really, really good down here in one and two, and three and four, I think we was about even and he might have been a tick better down there.

“But we caught the lapped car there (in the final circuits) and got the 19 (Joiner) in between us and, you know, we got our stuff hot trying to get around him. And I finally got by him, it wasn’t but like three laps to go, and we cooled it off and got back going” but it was too late.

“We love this place, and it as 100 laps here and we love 100-lap races,” he added. “I think we done a good job tonight, and we come up one short, but we had a great race car. Second was what we got tonight, but I think we had a car to get there. If we wouldn’t have gotten those lapped cars between us, I think me and J.D. would have put on the heck of a show for the last five laps.”

The 30-year-old Moran wondered what could have been if he hadn’t been forced to pit with a flat tire on lap 40. He had climbed from the seventh starting to third by lap 16 in his Double Down Motorsports Longhorn.

“I don’t know if we would have beat J.D. or not, but I felt like we had the best car,” said Moran, who scored a career-best Topless 100 finish. “I messed with (the leaders) a little bit there early in the race and got by (Davenport momentarily), and then he got back by me just a little bit and then I had the flat. I don’t know, it’s unfortunate we come here to race and everybody’s getting all these flat tires, so I don’t know what to deal is.

“But just a shame … I feel like we had such a great race car and my guys worked their butt off, and, yeah, to come home with a third-place finish is a good points tonight, but really just bittersweet when we feel like we have a chance to win the race.”

Notes: Davenport extended his lead in the Lucas Oil Series standings to 55 points over Thornton, who faded from third to a sixth-place finish over the final 14 laps. … Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga., slipped out of the top five over the final three laps to finish seventh. … The race ran incident-free until lap 37 when Sheppard slowed with an exploded right-rear tire. … Three more cautions for flat right-rears dotted the remainder of the feature’s first half: Jared Landers (lap 40), Donald McIntosh (lap 44) and Daulton Wilson (lap 50). … A red flag was displayed on lap 58 after Wilson slid high in turn four with his car’s rearend clipping the tires lining the end of the outside wall, launching his machine into the air and swapping ends but not flipping over. He was momentarily stunned but otherwise uninjured. … Additional caution flags were needed for flat right-rear tires on the cars of Mike Marlar (lap 60 as he ran seventh), Dale McDowell (lap 62 after he ran as high as fourth) and Timothy Culp (lap 63).

33rd annual Nutrien Ag Solutions Topless 100
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $50,000
2. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., Longhorn, $20,000
3. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $10,000
4. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., Rocket, $8,000
5. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $7,000
6. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $6,000
7. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $4,500
8. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, Capital, $4,000
9. Kyle Beard (86), Trumann, Ark., Longhorn, $3,800
10. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., Longhorn, $3,600
11. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $3,400
12. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $3,200
13. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $3,000
14. Donald McIntosh (79), Dawsonville, Ga., Longhorn, $2,500
15. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., Team Zero, $2,400
16. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Infinity, $2,300
17. Carson Brown (28B), New London, N.C., Longhorn, $2,200
18. Joseph Joiner (19m), Milton, Fla., Rocket, $2,100
19. Haiden Cowen (140, Rincon, Ga., Longhorn, $2,000
20. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., Longhorn, $2,000
21. Timothy Culp (c8), Prattsville, Ark., Capital, $2,000
22. Terry Phillips (75), Springfield, Mo., Longhorn, $2,000
23. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., Longhorn, $2,000
24. Jared Landers (777), Benton, Ark., Longhorn, $2,000
Lap leaders: Sheppard 1-37; Davenport 38-100
Consolation winners (among 45 cars): Wilson, Landers
Provisional starters: Alberson, Ferguson
Semifeature winners: Sheppard, Davenport

Correction: Fixes Marlar's chassis to Infinity sted Longhorn.

Feature lineup

(100 laps)

Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport
Row 2: Chris Madden, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 3: Hudson O’Neal, Clay Harris
Row 4: Devin Moran, Dan Ebert
Row 5: Dale McDowell, Timothy Culp
Row 6: Mike Marlar, Kyle Beard
Row 7: Joseph Joiner, Jimmy Owens
Row 8: Brandon Overton, Donald McIntosh
Row 9: Daulton Wilson, Jared Landers
Row 10: Haiden Cowan, Carson Brown
Row 11: Terry Phillips, Daniel Hilsabeck
Row 12: Garrett Alberson, Carson Ferguson

Consolation race results

(Nine laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Daulton Wilson, Haiden Cowan, Terry Phillips, Carson Ferguson, Clay Stuckey, Peyton Foster, Travis Ashley, Jon Kirby, Nathan Stewart. Scratched: B.J. Robinson, Chandler Petty, Drew Armstrong, Cade Dillard, Tanner Kellick, Mason Oberkramer.

Second consolation: Jared Landers, Carson Brown, Daniel Hilsabeck, Cory Lawler, Bryan Glaze, Chris Wilhite Jr., Chance Mann, Garrett Alberson, Geoff Aitken, Scott Crigler. Scratched: Bryce Clark, Billy Moyer Jr., Hunter Branscum, Joseph Long.

Consolation lineups

First consolation
Row 1: Daulton Wilson, Haiden Cowan
Row 2: Carson Ferguson, B.J. Robinson
Row 3: Terry Phillips, Chandler Petty
Row 4: Drew Armstrong, Jon Kirby
Row 5: Clay Stuckey, Cade Dillard
Row 6: Peyton Foster, Nathan Stewart
Row 7: Travis Ashley, Tanner Kellick
Second consolation
Row 1: Jared Landers, Daniel Hilsabeck
Row 2: Carson Brown, Cory Lawler
Row 3: Scott Crigler, Bryan Glaze
Row 4: Chance Mann, Chris Wilhite Jr.
Row 5: Bryce Clark, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 6: Geoff Aitken, Garrett Alberson
Row 7: Hunter Branscum, Joseph Long

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
3:30 p.m. - Pits closed and cleared
4 p.m. - All gates open
4 p.m. - Tech and registration opens
5 p.m. - Outreach service
6:45 p.m. - Tech and registration closes
7 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
7:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps (consolation entrants)
- Modified hot laps
Opening ceremonies
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (15 laps)
- Modified consolations (12 laps)
- Late Model hot laps (feature entrants)
Intermission/track prep
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- 33rd annual Topless 100 (100 laps)